"With all the massive dignity, which makes granite the symbol of strength, the cornerstone of the new City Hall rests in its place of honor in the southeastern pier of that building." So read one newspaper account of the ceremony on Feb. 24,...

The city clerk's office is still located in City Hall but looks a bit different from this 1915 picture. Nearly everything in the room would be an antique hunter's delight now - from the lighting fixture to the strategically placed spittoon. Peter...

It was Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1896, and many Milwaukeeans spent the morning of their holiday watching the new bell being raised to the top of the new City Hall tower. One day earlier, a careful procession with the bell on a wagon wound its way...

Workers hadn’t yet completed the ornate tower and cupola on City Hall when a high-climbing photographer took his picture in 1895 from the roof of the since-demolished Pabst Building on E. Wisconsin Ave. Built between 1893 and 1896, City Hall,...

This classic looking courtroom was none other than the Milwaukee Municipal Court, located then in City Hall. The photo was taken in January, 1897, when the honorable Emil Walber was the judge. Milwaukee's Municipal Court was created in 1859. It...

Milwaukee's Methodists have always been proud of the fact that when the city of Milwaukee was incorporated on Jan. 31, 1846 its first offices were established in the pioneer Methodist church building. Here, too, Solomon Juneau, founder of the...

"The city directory is Milwaukee's catalog," its ads used to proclaim, and certainly their listings are still a big help in pinpointing what's where in Milwaukee, especially in old photographs like this one. E. Wells St. was called Oneida St. when...

Downtowners will recognize the building on the left as City Hall. If it weren't for the horse and buggies on the right, one might think this a new photo and that the pedestrian walkway a leftover from the recent building cleaning there. But this...

The popularity of the automobile brought all kinds of new problems to the city's governing fathers, especially that of how to control the new horseless carriages and their operators. The city soon began experimenting with a variety of mechanical...

At the turn of the century, the area to the south of City Hall was known as City Hall Square. The statue of Henry Bergh and his dog standing in the square was as well known as City Hall itself. Bergh founded the American Society for the...

The East Division Street Market (on what is now E. Juneau av.) was "downtown" for Milwaukee's German population between about 1870 and 1920. Here, the German housewives could buy produce, eggs, Schmierkaes (soft cheese) and Spanferkel (suckling...

The land for the park which was in time to become Milwaukee's Washington park zoo was purchased in 1891 and given the name West park. It offered an excellent view of the city which at that time was developing around it. Its chief attraction,...

This old warehouse at 117 N. Water St. was reputed, in 1950, to be the oldest structure in the city. And at one time or another, its owners had included some of Milwaukee's most prominent early settlers. The original patent of title was issued to...

A proposal that a bridge be built over the Milwaukee River to connect the east and west sides of the city just north of City Hall was made in 1900. But it wasn't until 1927 that construction began. Biddle St., east of the river, and Cedar St.,...

The fashion of the day was long skirts, narrow waists and wide brimmed hats for the ladies when this picture was taken in about 1909. Even then, 5th and Wisconsin was a wind swept corner, where coattails blew and men chased hats down the street. ...

If one would but visit "the stifling alleys of any great city" he would "appreciate that the task of providing a great town with beautiful parks is one of the most grateful in the world; but it also becomes a duty." That statement was made by...

"We're going to have some nasty weather," warned weatherman Howard J. Thompson, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 1947, and he didn't know how right he was! Less than 48 hours later, Milwaukee was buried under 18.1 inches of snow. The fall was so thick that...

One of Milwaukee and Wisconsin's pioneer dentists was Dr. Robert J. Faries, who settled here in 1844. His first home was a two story frame dwelling on what is now the southwest corner of E. Wisconsin and N. Cass, but his next residence(in the...

Resembling a miniature Maxwell St., used suits, coats, shoes and sundries were bought and sold in the 200 block of W. Wells St. in the early 1900s. Sandwiched in between the racks of apparel was the John Buschinger Shoe Repair Shop, where men's...

People who pass this corner in rush hour traffic may not believe it, but this really was the corner of N. 2nd and N. Plankinton (or W. Water as it was known) in the 1890's. Hitching posts lined the sidewalks instead of parking meters, and there...